Fish stringing device



June 13, 1950 D. B. CLAPP FISH STRINGING DEVICE Filed March 25, 1947 Inventor Delbert Brown Clapp non/Waxy 3M Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FISH STRlNGlNG DEVICE Delbert Brown Clapp, Miami, Fla.

Application March 25, 1947, Serial No.-737,145

improved device for expeditiously and systematically stringing fish together and attaching same, temporarily, on a suspended stringer-rope. f An object of the invention is to :provide a practical hook-like device having a pointed penetrating bill to penetrate the mouth of a fish in needlelike fashion, means being provided on the shank portion of the hook to close and fasten the bill in a manner to securely maintain the fish anchored on the hook until subsequently removed. Additional novelty is predicated upon an expandable and contractable needle-like hook construction and an effective fastener, the fastener and shank having portions matchable and alignable to form eye means permitting the device to be threaded on an in-the-water suspension rope or other line.

The use of safetypin-like hooks and link-form stringers chained or otherwise interconnected for convenient assemblage of the batch of caught fish are not new. The difficulty with these devices is the inconvenience in carrying same, assembling and also the time and other factors involved in handling same. Besides, with the safetypin-type stringer hook, a large fish will sometimes maneuver in such' a manner that it will unhook the safetypin and slip ofl the hook, thus liberating itself.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a resilient hook construction in which the penetrating bill'is automatically spreadable to an open position and then is bent by hand to a closed position after which a clasp-type fastene s b o h nten e r r o o tem rarily adjoining the penetrating bill to the shank and securing said parts together for convenient results.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like Darts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a fish stringer device constructed in accordance with the structural and functional principles of this invention showing the fastener applied and the hook closed:

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the fastener per se, that is, this part of the device detached from the shank of the hook means;

Figure 3 is a view showing the fastener and hook means together and also showing the pene- 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-458) trating bill spread to open position in readiness for reception of a fish and also showing the fastener in its applied position ready to be brought into use for securing opposite end portions of the hook means temporarily together for stringing purposes; and,

Figure 4 is a view on a smaller scale showing two of the devices, fish attached thereto, and said devices mounted on an overboard-type suspension rope or equivalent element.

Referring now to the drawings and especially to Figure 3 showing the assemblage, the hookform stringing means is denoted, generally vis'-' ualized, by the numeral 6 and includes a steel or equivalent wire or rod having a looping body portion I terminating in a rectilinearly straight bill portion 8 having a penetrating terminal 9. The opposite end portion of the hook means constitutes a shank I0 and is actually made up of a straight portion II, and an eye I2 in the return-bend I3. In fact, the eye I2 is formed by the return-bend I3, and said eye is adapted to accommodate passage of overboard-type stringer or suspension rope or equivalent line I4.

The fastener means or clip is denoted by the numeral I5 and is an independent part and comprises a rectilinearly straight wire or rod member I6 having convolutions at one end, as at IT, defining an adaptor and retaining eye; This eye is slid over the hill 8 and is threaded around the looping portion I to take a position as indicated in Figure 3. Parallel eye portions I8 and I9 joined by a connecting bend 20 form the outer end construction and provide embracing jaws for the eye I2. I Auxiliary eyes I8 and I9 are such and so spaced and arranged that they perform in defining a keeper which receives the primary eye of the shank as shown in Figure 1, whereupon all three elements, the main eye I2 and extra or auxiliary eyes I8 and I9 line up to form a three-part master eye which, in turn, serves to accommodate the suspension rope I4.

It is of course obvious that the fastener means I5 is applied to the hook means 6 before the fish is strung on the latter. As a matter of fact. the fastener means is normally carried by the hook means and the two parts go together in making up the fish stringer. It is also obvious that there is sufiicient inherent resiliency in the metal which goes to make up the looping bend I to normally spread the bill in a direction away from the shank in order to provide a wide-open space to facilitate threading of the fish thereon by needling the pointed bill or spur through the mouth of the fish. The construction is fairly simple and the drawings are reasonably well illustrative of the details and mode of adoption and use. Moreover, fishermen and anglers are accustomed to using all sorts of appliances and accessories and it will take little or no time for the average fisherman to learn to use this appliance with ease and expedience. He will find, too, that once the fish is strung thereon, it will stay put and that the stringers may be strung on the suspension rope one after the other in the fashion illustrated in Figure 4. Then too, in stringing fish with this hook, no provision for spacing these stringing devices on the rope is necessary. When the first fish is caught it is put on one of the hooks and strung on the stringer rope which has a good knot tied at the lower end thereof to keep the devices and fish from slipping on. When the second or next fish is caught itjis, in turn, locked on another hook and this hook is fed on the rope permitting it t slip down ther or line into the water; with the one previously caught and s on. until th u h ,fishing- The stringer hooks are just as easily removable aiter th catch is gotten home or to the market or elsewhere.

A careful c ns ra ion of h fore oing desorip ion in onjuncti n w h the nvention as lus rated in thodrawings Will enable the reader to obtain a lear nders anding and impression of. the a le d f atures of merit and novelty suf ie ent o c a i the construction of t e invention as h reina ter la med.

Minor chan es in shape, size, terials. and rearrangement. of parts may be resorted to actual pra tice so long as. no departure s made from the invention as claimed 7 I cla m:

A fish strin r of the lass. d scribed omnris ns h ok means em o ying a, loop-like body Portion te m nating in a. rectilinearly s rai ht b111 said h ll havin a pen trating Po n a uter extremity, the opposite end of said b dy being provided with. an elon ated reotilinear y stra gh shank and sai s ank. term nat n at its outer end in an eye. said body portion being pggsessed of inherent resilielmy tending to automa ical p n th bill in a direct o a ay from he hank o rmit the bill to be inse d nd removed n ne dl -like fashion nd a tastener. clip, comprisin n elongated t inea ly strai ht portion having a lateral ey atone nd, said v e ng s dah e n said hank, e mitt n the. clip to have. both s id n a d w ngi g mo on, said eye being sufiiciently large to encircle said hill and. to hold. the latter firmly against the shank and to thus temporarily fasten the bill in fish-retaining position, said rectilinearly straight portion being provided at its opposite end with eye means adapted to register with the eye on the outer end of the shank, the latter eye in said eye means serving to permit passage of the required stringing rope therethrough, whereby the rope constitutes the means for securing the fastener clip and the latter constitutes the means for securely retaining said bill in positive contact with the shank.

2. The structure specified in claim 1, said eye means constituting a pair of spaced parallel clasping eyes, said clasping eyes being of diameter substantially corresponding to the eye on said shank, and the eye on the shank fitting in. interlocking relation between said clasping eyes.

to properly accommodate said rope.

3. IA fish stringer of the class described com-- prising a stringer unit formed from a single: length of wire bent between its ends to provide a loop-like body portion, one end of the wire hav-' ing an elongated rectilinearly straight bill nor.- tion with a penetrating terminal, the opposite opposed end portion oi the wire being bent upon itself to provide a rope eye and a rectilinearly straight Shank portion including a return bend, and a fastener unit comprising an elongated-substantially rigid wire having a lateral eye at one end, said eye being slidably and swingably mounted on said shank, the rope eye at the outer end of the shank being of a diameter greater than the second named eye to prevent displacement of the latter, the opposite end of said second named unit being fashioned into .a pair of spaced parallel clasping eyes, and said first named eye being adapted to be disposed'between said clasp ing eyes, whereby all three eyes provide for convenient passage of the stringer rope and the second named eye serves to slidably embrace said bill to hold the latter in firm contact with, the shank.

DELBERT BROWN CLAPP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num e Nam Date 135,228 Macdonald Jan. 28, 1873 2,297,623. Hickman ep 9 2 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 122,611 Great Britain Jan. 30, 1919 

